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STEFANO BELINGARDI CLUSONI
Stefano Belingardi Clusoni is a Milanese architect. In the year
2020, he was nominated as one of Italy’s best architects under 40
by Platform magazine. Graduating with the best Master’s project
according to the jury of the Mario Botta Academy of Architecture
in Mendrisio, Switzerland, he has worked in Barcelona, Berlin and
Shanghai, gaining valuable experience in some of the most pres-
tigious international studios, including EMBT Miralles Tagliabue,
Daniel Libeskind and Cino Zucchi. In 2016 he founded the
BE.ST Belingardi Stefano Architect studio in Milan. Vesta is his
first restaurant.
Mario Botta, EMBT Architects, Daniel Libeskind, Cino Zucchi:
what did you learn from each of these architects?
University and Mario Botta gave me a logical and rational frame-
work. The EMBT Architects Studio in Spain taught me the artistic
side, that is to say how to combine architecture and art. Libeskind
showed me how to think outside the box. And Cino Zucchi the
human side.
You have had a number of different international experiences.
Do you still feel like a Milanese architect?
Yes, absolutely.
How do your projects start, what is the point of departure?
There’s always an initial vision. When I go for the first time to inspect
a site, I try to visualise the final product; then I try to re-elaborate
what I have imagined and it often works. I start with an image,
a feeling and then seek to understand why I imagined it in that way.
How was the Vesta project born?
The starting point was the idea of the steps, a podium that links
the restaurant to the city and takes diners to a higher level, giving
the impression of floating or hovering over the city. The venue is
closely linked to Brera, and how the people experience the area,
meeting up for a drink on the steps or sitting like in a piazza.
The steps are a stage, a scenography, designed for the enjoyment
of both people out for a walk and diners in the outdoor area,
looking over the city. Then there is the question of light. The
previous place was the opposite, very gloomy. Here the idea was
to open everything up, by creating a link between the inside and the
outside by means of the windows. Finally, there are the different
levels: this interlocking of parts of the city is very interesting.
